Critters
by XTakuiX
Summary: Hello, I'm new. *applause* summary: Zell finds a box full of mysterious eggs on the side of the road after a storm. Zell's 1st instinct is to take them with him, but two T-Rexaurs may make it difficult...R&R! Ch.3 up!
1. The Find

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't own FF8 or anything else in this fic. All I own are my stories, a pencil, a broken stapler, a coaster, and a now empty can of orange soda.  
  
A/N: Okay. Please try to maintain your sanity; I'm not responsible for it (or anything else) if it is lost due to this fic. BE FOREWARNED! This is the product of my out-of-control imagination and a very, very strange dream. So.....have fun! (Also, this fic contains a LOT of Zell, Irvine, and Fujin favoritism and slight Rinoa and Raijin bashing.)  
  
  
Critters  
  
It was an unusually dark and stormy night in Balamb and Zell was in a hurry to get back to garden, when his rental car broke down on the side of the road. "Damn it!" he shouted in frustration as he tried the ignition in several futile attempts to get the car started again. Sighing, he switched on the emergency lights, headlights, and the interior light, which promptly burned out with a loud crackle and left poor Zell in the dark. Muttering some profanities under his breath, he slid over the seat and opened the glove compartment and found, much to his relief, a flashlight. Clicking it on, he looked at the interior light which had oh-so-conveniently burnt out with a good measure of quiet frustration. "Great," he mumbled, "stuck on a road in the middle of nowhere during one of the worst storms in history!" This was, of course, and exaggeration. Though he was exactly five miles from both Balamb and Garden, he was a much shorter distance from a pair of disgruntled T-Rexaurs, moving silently across the small expanse of grassland on the island.  
  
Almost immediately, the two monstrous creatures took notice of Zell's clunky little rental car with its head lights glaring brightly against the pouring rain. Zell, however, was too busy cursing his bad luck to take notice of the two huge shadows moving toward him. When he did take notice, it was by accident when he dropped the flashlight on the dashboard, with the meek little beam of light shining on a huge, green-yellow eye in the driver's side window. "This just isn't my day...," Zell said in a quiet whisper, as if being quiet would help remedy the dinosaurs' sudden interest in the car's headlights. Sadly, it was not to be. With a sudden, rough jolt, the tiny vehicle's front headlights winked out and, as if being in total darkness with a pair of disgruntled T-Rexaurs isn't enough, came crashing back down on what remained of the hood from the monster's great and powerful jaws. Zell did what any sane person alone in total darkness with a pair of disgruntled T-Rexaurs would do. He screamed.  
  
Doing this, he calmly screamed again. Then once more for good measure. The T-Rexaurs, seemingly having a great time, roared loudly in reply and jostled the crippled automobile with their snouts. Zell, jostled, lashed out for anything to hold on to in a frantic attempt to not panic. In his lashes, he struck the radio and it started blaring "Oops, I Did It Again" by the oh-so-loathed Brittany Spears at full volume. The T-Rexaurs stopped in mid-jostle, looked at each other with wide eyes, looked at the car with wide eyes, looked at each other, and decided a speedy retreat was in order. Clearly out-matched, the two gigantic reptiles careered across the plains, trying, and not succeeding, to cover their ears from the hideous sounds of Brittany Spears, and soon were trembling in disturbed silence in the farthest forest from the car's radio.  
  
Zell, after struggling to extinguish the hellish screeches from the radio, slumped back into his seat and tried to figure out what to do. After a good fifteen minutes of looking out the windows at the storm, looking out the windows at the damaged front end of the car, and looking back out the windows at the storm, he came to a conclusion, which was this. He would stay in the car until the storm cleared and walk back to Balamb Garden. Since the storm showed no signs of subsiding any time soon, he decided he better try to get some sleep. Using the flashlight, he stole a few quick glances out the windows, then settled into the back seat under a conveniently placed blanket and went to sleep.  
  
Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Zell woke. He stretched, yawned, stretched some more, yawned again, stretched a final time, and looked out the window. For a moment he forgot where he was and sat, quietly, in the back seat while his brain told him what had happened the night before. Looking out the windows once more, he noticed the visibility was near zero. The entire island was blanketed by thick fog, as if the storm clouds decided to camp out on the ground and rest. Zell, quietly, slowly, and armed with a nearly burnt out flashlight, opened the rear passenger side door and looked around. All he could see was the ground directly in front of his feet, and barely that. He walked over to the rearview mirror and tried desperately to sort out his badly mangled hair, but gave up almost immediately. He sighed, looked around again, and said to himself, "How am I going to get back to Garden when I can't even see two feet in front of my face?" As if to answer his question, a mysterious and very odd sound came from the mist in the ditch to his right. It said, "Neeb."  
"What in the world was that?" Zell said, turning toward the direction of the sound. And, again, in reply, came, "Neeb."  
"I don't remember any kind of monster near Balamb that says 'neeb'," Zell thought aloud, "Maybe it's some new monster..."  
"Neeb."  
"Er....was that a yes?"  
"Neeb."  
"Can you hear me?"  
"Neeb."  
"Can you understand me?"  
"Neeb."  
The conversation was, clearly, not going anywhere, so Zell tried a different approach. He moved ever so slightly in the direction of the sound, and said, "If you can understand what I'm saying, make, er...one 'neeb' for yes and two for know. Ok?"  
"Neeb."  
"Ok then...um...do you see me?"  
"Neeb neeb."  
"Hey, it works! I'm communicating with a monster!"  
"Neeb."  
"Ok, I'm...um...coming toward you, so...stay where you are. Ok?" Zell said, with the tone of fascination and some apprehension, in his voice. After hearing the "neeb" once more, he made his way down into the ditch, slipping occasionally in the wet, muddy grass that sloped steeply downward.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, Zell finally made it to the somewhat level ground at the bottom of the ditch and looked around. Before he could take a single step, however, he was suddenly aware of something attached to his left leg. He looked down. And, sure enough, there was something attached to his left leg. It was small, roughly the size of a Welsh Corgy, green, had what appeared to be -- and indeed, was -- a flat, spade-shaped leaf on its head, and two big, blue, puppy-dog eyes that gazed into Zell's with trust and hope. It opened its tiny, w-shaped mouth and said, "Neeb."  
  
Zell's heart melted. Then, remembering it was, somewhat, an important part of Zell, it reformed and resumed its job of keep Zell alive. He reached down with a trembling hand and patted the little creature's head, to which it responded with "Neeb," and crawled up Zell's leg, up his back, and settling on his right shoulder. He was somewhat stunned to notice the adorable little monster had no feet, but instead, a soft, rubbery, slug-like body (only without the annoying slug slime), which acted like a suction cup and, thus, allowed the tiny green critter to stick firmly to any surface.  
  
Zell smiled and started to walk back out of the ditch, when the little creature flung itself off his shoulder and landed with a quiet swish in a small puddle behind him. It turned around, glanced back at Zell, and shuffled off into the mist and calling out "neeb" to try to get Zell to follow it. He did. To Zell's surprise, the little green animal sat quietly next to a soggy, cardboard box. It was not the little animal sitting next to the box, nor the box itself, which surprised Zell. It was what sat inside the box that rendered him speechless.  
  
Sitting inside the soggy, cardboard box were ten eggs, each a slightly different size, and very different colors. Zell's mouth hung open. Then closed when it realized it had nothing to say. All the adorable little monster did was look from the box, to Zell, to the box, and to Zell again, all the while flashing its adorably cute puppy-dog eyes at him. Zell scratched his chin in thought. "Gee, that little guy sure is cute, but if those are its brothers and sisters in there, what should I do?" he thought to himself, "I could take them back to Garden with me, but what would the Headmaster say? Are we allowed to keep pets? Well, Rinoa has Angelo, but what about adorably cute little monsters and monster eggs? Hmmmm......" he continued. Zell was completely at a loss. He didn't feel he could just leave the eggs, or that adorably cute little monster, out here to freeze or starve or get run over by Seifer. He looked at the box of eggs and the adorably cute little monster sitting next to it. He thought. He sighed. He thought some more. He ran a hand through his badly matted hair and tried to think of something, but it seemed his only two options were to leave the little, defenseless creatures here to the mercy of nature, or take them all back with him and try to talk Cid into letting him keep the adorable little monster, and the eggs, at least until they hatched.  
  
But, it was just then that his train of thought was interrupted. Not for from him, he could hear the roars of, what sounded like, two very large and disgruntled T-Rexaurs. As if to add to the already ominous and mysteriousness of it all, the mists gave way to two, huge, T-Rexaur shaped shadows thundering toward him. One stopped at the rental car and immediately began tearing at it in venting the pent-up anger from the previous night's defeat. The other, and larger, of the two was walking straight toward him. Whatever Zell decided to do, he'd have to decide quickly. The T-Rexaur didn't look like it was ready to sit and wait for him to come up with an answer....  
  
To be continued.....  
  
  
And that's where we end! Mwahahaha! So, what didja think? Any good? Hehe, if it sounded a bit repetitive, it's because I'm using the humorous writing style of Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and the other four books in the trilogy. I don't own any of it, like I said before, so don't sue me!  
  
On another note, review! I need some help from you, the readers, before I can continue, however. What should Zell do? Should he take the eggs and adorably cute little monster with him and fight the T-Rexaurs off, or should he abandon them to their fate and run away? You decide what happens in the next chapter of this humorous horror fic, "Critters." Don't let me down! 


	2. The Experiment Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned in this fic. Nothing. Nadda. Zip. Zero. Zilch. All I own are my stories, a broken stapler, a pen, a notepad, a CD player, and a stuffed chocobo...  
  
A/N: Ok, you asked for it! Chapter Two! Mwaha! As mentioned in Chapter One, there's a lot of Zell, Irvine, and Fujin favoritism in this fic and a bit of Rinoa and Raijin bashing. Hold on tight, it's gonna be a bumpy ride! Read on! Oh, wait! This chapter is a bit longer than the last and just manages to get the whole thing rolling. Bear with me, please! And stand by for chapter three! Ok, now you can read on! Go!  
  
  
Critters: Ch. 2  
  
  
"Oh shit," was all Zell could say about the situation. There were two large and presumably unhappy T-Rexaurs advancing on him, one of them having bits of Zell's rental car hanging from its massive jaws. Zell was once again aware of something attached to his left leg. Sure enough, the tiny, adorable creature was, indeed, attached firmly to his left leg, trembling in fear. Zell looked from the T-Rexaurs, to the box, to the little monster on his leg a few times. He checked the back of his mind to see if any of his GFs were equipped. Damn, he thought, all I have is Tonberry. He pondered for a moment, before he was interrupted by the thunderous roar of the larger of the two dinosaurs. The moment was all he needed. He had a plan.   
As the gargantuan creatures stalked closer, Zell backed up until he was next to the box of eggs. "Neeb!" squeaked the little monster, still clinging to his leg. Zell focused and summoned on Tonberry, who came rather reluctantly. Just as Tonberry made his appearance, Zell lifted the waterlogged box into his arms and ran like he'd never run before. All Tonberry had to say was, "Why me?" and went through his routine.  
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Zell screamed as he ran down the road through the mist with thunderous footsteps behind. The tiny green creature scrambled up Zell's back in fear and became firmly attached to Zell's head. "Hey! Careful! Watch the hair!" he cried as the little monster tightened its terrified grip on Zell's cranium. "NEEEEEEEB!!" it screamed, as it looked back at the huge dinosaurs following them. All Zell could think about was the unlikeliness of his ability to outrun two giant T-Rexaurs bent on revenge. Just a little further, he thought to himself.  
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of the Garden's lights. Just as suddenly, he heard a loud screech and a roar behind him. He wheeled around just in time to dodge an oncoming vehicle. It was yellow, rusted, full of dents, and gave off more smoke than a forest fire. It was Seifer. The roar had come from a T-Rexaur unfortunate enough to have its foot in Seifer's path. Once again, the intimidating monsters were out-intimidated, and ran. Though, whether they were afraid of getting their toes run over, or hated smoke, or hated Seifer, Zell could only guess. He decided he shouldn't, and gave up on that particular thought process immediately, as Seifer's car halted with a screech. The driver's side door burst open and, sure enough, it was Seifer.  
"Hey chicken-wuss! What are you doing out this early? It's eight o'clock! That's a little early to be gettin' your ass kicked!" Seifer laughed and walked over to Zell. He paused a moment to look at the quivering mass of green on Zell's head. "What the hell is that?" he asked.  
"That? That's...uh...well...it's..." Before he could finish, the little critter detached itself and plopped onto the ground in front of Seifer, and said:  
"Neeb!"  
"Neeb? What the hell's a 'neeb'?"  
"It's a little monster I found in a ditch. I couldn't just leave it to get hurt or killed. I also found these." Zell held out the box of eggs. Seifer was struck speechless. He scratched his head a moment, then looked at Zell.  
"Why do you have a box of monster eggs?"  
"L-Like I said, I couldn't just leave them. Do you think Cid will mind if I keep them?"  
"Of course he'll mind, numb-skull!"  
"What should I do?" Zell asked, giving Seifer a sad puppy-dog look. Seifer looked away, and noticed the tiny monster had the same face. He sighed. "Well, since I'm gonna be here for a little while, I guess I'll help. Just don't tell Squall I'm being a nice guy, understand! Hmm...Lemme see..." Seifer carefully lifted a basketball sized, basketball shaped, basketball colored egg and tossed it from hand to hand. "What's this? A soccer ball?" He laughed again and looked it over. "I like this one. I think I'll keep it, eh?"  
"Hey, wait --"  
"Now, now, Zell. The less you have to deal with, the more likely it is that Cid will let you keep 'em. Get it?"  
"Uh...Okay," Zell replied, not entirely trusting Seifer. Seifer, however, had already opened a door and motioned for Zell to hop into the back seat of his clunky, junky, rust bucket of a car. Zell hastily declined the offer and continued to jog towards Garden.  
Within about ten minutes, Zell, with a green monster on his head and a box of eggs in his arms, was standing in Headmaster Cid's office.  
"Zell, do you plan on keeping and raising monsters here?" Cid asked skeptically. He took another look at the eggs. "I though you said you found ten of them. There's only nine here..."   
"Uh, yeah. I, um, ran into Seifer and he said he'd take care of one for me. Is that okay?"  
"Hm...that's a good idea. Zell, this could be a big thing. We could be the first Garden to raise and train monsters! This could be big. Zell, I want you to find each of your friends and see if they're willing to take part in this. They'll each hatch and raise a monster! I can see a future here! I think I might even try!" Cid enthusiastically picked up a football shaped, black egg from the box. "I think I'll take this one," he said, walking over to his desk.  
"I think I might try as well." It was Edea, who'd been sitting on a small sofa in the corner. She walked over to the box and picked out a smooth, cream colored egg. With no further comment, she walked out of Cid's office and into an adjoining room. Cid dismissed Zell, and went back to sorting paperwork.  
Downstairs, Zell ran into the rest of his friends in the cafeteria. He greeted them, as usual, and set the now dry box on the table. Everyone just looked at him. "Hey, guys. What's up?" he asked.  
"Zell," Irvine began, "Why is there a box of eggs on the table?"  
"Oh, these? Yeah, I, uh, found them. Cid said I should get each of you to take one. It's sort of an experiment. He wants each of us to hatch and raise a monster. He said it might be a big thing, you know, to have tame monsters," he explained. The other shrugged.  
"I'll take one!" Selphie yelled, reaching into the box and withdrawing a soft, round, pink egg. She giggled and prodded Irvine to take one. He did, mostly so he would no longer be prodded. He grabbed a sleek, metallic-looking egg. Rinoa sighed and picked out a greenish-blue egg. Everyone looked at Squall. "What?" Squall said, then sighed in exaspiration and took a large, ocean-blue egg. Just then, Quistis walked in and stopped, staring at her friends. "What's all this?" she asked, walking over hesitantly.  
"Headmaster Cid said he wants us all to hatch and raise a monster from these eggs. Pick on, Quisty," Irvine said, leaning back. Quistis shrugged and took a slightly cone-shaped egg with a slight pink-yellow tint. "So, where'd these monster eggs come from?" she asked, taking a seat.  
"Zell found them," Selphie said, biting into a sandwich.  
"Oh, I see. And it was Cid's idea to raise them?"  
"Yeah, actually," Zell replied.  
"I don't think I should..." Squall began, but became silent when everyone gave him one of those "don't start" looks.  
"Zell, what are you going to do with the last two?" Rinoa asked.  
"I dunno. I guess I'll --" he was suddenly cut off by a loud shout from across the cafe. "Hey, what's up, ya know?!" It was Raijin. He ran over to everyone and gave each person a hug, except for Squall, who settled for a handshake. Fujin and Seifer joined, Seifer carrying a tray of sodas and burgers in one hand, the orange, round egg in the other. "Greetings," Fujin said, giving a nod to each person. She looked into the box, pointed, and said, with a slight shrug, "What's this?" Once again, Zell explained. Fujin nodded once, then reached in and picked up a blue egg with two black stripes and one black spot. She looked it over, then decided she'd take it. Raijin happily took the last egg, a green one with strange white spots at the larger end. Zell sighed, picked up the box, and heaved into a trash can. This was a good start, he thought. Selphie was entertaining herself by entertaining Zell's little critter, which soon tired of Selphie's hyperness and plopped down on Zell's head with a tired, "Neeeeeeeeb."  
"I hear ya, little guy. She's a handful!"  
"Neeb neeb!"  
"Zell, aren't you going to give it a name?" Rinoa asked.  
"Uh...yeah...how about...Neeb!" he said, patting the monster's head. It chirpped happily, crawled to Zell's right shoulder, and nuzzled him happily. "Neeb! Neeeeeeeeb!" it squeked in approval.  
"All righty then! You're name is now Neeb!"  
"Neeeeeeeb! Neeb neeb!"  
  
* * * * * * *  
  
Over the course of a week, each of the friends attentively cared for his or her egg. Selphie went as far as carrying it everywhere with her in a backpack. Fujin, Raijin, and Seifer were allowed to stay at Garden, since they were taking part in Cid's little experiment. Then, one Friday night, the quiet peace of Balamb Garden was shattered.  
"It hatched! It hatched it hatched it hatched!!" screamed a very excited Selphie as she ran around the bottom floor, then returned to her dorm. Rinoa and Quistis followed. "Look! Isn't it adorable?!" Selphie cried as she cradled an adorably cute, pink creature in her arms. It was about the same size as Neeb, but very different in all other respects. It was pink, to start. Its body was cylindrical in shape and soft as a marshmallow. Its ears were cone shaped and stuck straight up off its head. Between its big, green eyes was a tiny, blue stone. It had a powder-puff tail, and sat back on rubbery, penquin-like feet, holding its front paws up like a rabbit. It looked up at Rinoa, Quistis, and Selphie and squeaked, "Kichi!"  
"Oooooh! It's so cuuuute!!!" Selphie squealed.  
"It's just precious!" Rinoa said, patting the little pink marshmallow on the head. "It's just like a marshmallow peep!"  
"Kichi!" the little critter replied.  
"Its name will be Kichi!"  
"Kichi! Kiiiichiii!" the pink thing squeaked back. Just down the hall, Quistis was back in her room watching the hatching of her egg. Wonder how cute this one will be, she thought as cracks appeared all along the egg's surface. She sighed and called Rinoa and Selphie down to her room to watch. What will it be?...  
  
  
A/N: Yeah, it was quite a bit longer than expected. This is only chapter two! The ball is rolling and soon there will be 8 new monsters loose in Garden. Stay tuned for the next chapter, and I promise it'll be more exciting than this one was...maybe? ^_^ 


	3. The Hatching

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, this thing again. I don't own FF8. I wish I did, but I don't. All I own are my stories, a pencil, some floppy disks, a notepad, a broken stapler, and an empty bottle of orange soda.  
  
A/N: Ok, let the excitement begin! Hopefully...^_^; That's right, this is chapter 3! Hoo-ha! Mwaha! Everyone's baby monsters are revealed! It's a vision of cuteness! Beware! I recommend wearing cute-proof goggles for this chapter. Uh oh! Rival uncute monsters! What will Zell and Co. do?!? Read on and brace yourselves!  
  
  
Critters: Chapter 3  
  
  
What will it be? Quistis wondered to herself as Selphie and Rinoa joined her. The little yellow-pink egg shook, cracks forming all across its delicate surface. Then, suddenly, the eggshell was no more. Hundreds of glimmering shards fell to the floor, leaving a small, furry bundle in their place. Quistis was puzzled. She leaned over and poked the orangish ball of fluff. "Ow!" she exclaimed. She withdrew her hand to find a thin, 2-inch purple needle in her finger. "That hurts!" she said as she pulled the needle from her finger.   
"I sure hope it's not poisonous!" Selphie said, leaning in for a closer look.  
"Me, too, Selphie," Quistis said, shifting her position. The little orange bundle jiggled a little bit and seemed to expand. The ball of fluff and purple needles unrolled to reveal a surprisingly adorable little animal. It was about 3 feet long, from beak to tail. It looked, somewhat, like a rolled up fur coat. Its face had no fur, and was cone-shaped. It had two thick, rubbery feet and curly-Q ears and big, almond shaped, blue eyes. It looked around and squeaked a soft, nasal-sounding, "Quill."  
"Awwww! It's adorable!" Selphie said happily, giving Kichi a squeeze. The little 'marshmallow peep' popped out of her arms and inspected the new arrival.   
"That's just precious! Look, they're already friends," Rinoa said, puling over a chair and sitting down. "What are you going to name it?"  
"Well," Quistis said in thought, "So far, two have been named after the sound they make...might as well keep the trend going. It's name is Quill."  
"Quill...quill..." Quill said, yawning.  
"Kichi?"  
"Quill?"  
"Chi?"  
"Qui?"  
"That's so adorable!" Selphie squealed.  
"Chi! Kichi! Chi!"  
"Quill!" Suddenly, the orange fluff ball rolled up and ruffled its fur, the purple needles poking straight up. Kichi puffed up like a balloon to about twice its own size. This didn't look like a happy relationship. Selphie picked up the ballooned peep and walked back down the hall. Rinoa decided to check on her egg, leaving Quistis with her monster. "Quill," it said, when it unrolled, and hopped onto Quistis's shoulder. As Quistis stood, another excited squeal came from down the hall. This time, it was Rinoa. Quistis sighed and walked down the hall with Quill draped over her shoulders.  
"Look at this mess! It must've hatched when I was gone! Help me find it!" Rinoa said, jogging to her closet.   
"What does it look like?" Selphie asked.  
"How would I know?!"  
"Calm down, Rinoa," Quistis said, standing in front of the bathroom door, "It's in here." Quistis pointed to the shower as a concerned Rinoa ran over.  
Sitting in the shower was a blue-green, 3-foot, two-legged alligator. At least, that's what it looked like, at first. It only had its front legs, and was chewing contentedly on the shower curtain, despite the fact that it had no teeth. Its eyes were big and red and its muzzle was short. It had a row of six flopped over spines down its back, and down its tail were tiny, bony spikes. It looked up at the three women and barked a sound like "garp" up at them. Rinoa squealed and picked it up in a big hug. "It's the cutest!" she yelled, running back into her main room. She set it down on her bed and stared at it. "I have a teddy bear named Garp, and that's what it's bark sounds like, so...I'll name it Garp!"   
"Garp!" Garp said. It was a match made in heaven...sort of.   
  
The three girls gathered up their brood and headed toward the cafe to show them off. On their way, they bumped into Fujin, who looked to be wearing a blue raccoon hat.   
"Whoa! Fujin? Since when do you wear hats?" Rinoa asked.  
"Not hat," Fujin replied. She picked up the "hat" and held it up. It wasn't a hat. It was actually a raccoon, sort of. The only real difference was that it was blue and had pink eyes, a white belly, and a black patch around its left eye. "Meet Fuj," Fujin said. The blue raccoon squealed at Selphie, Rinoa, and Quistis, then returned to being curled up on Fujin's head. Fujin shrugged and walked on, getting weird looks from other students as she went.  
  
On the other side of the dorms, Seifer's, Irvine's, and Raijin's eggs had hatched, and were stirring up a bit of trouble for the guys. Seifer was having the most problems, because his little monster, named Chomp, kept chomping on him. It was one of the oddest monsters Seifer had ever seen. It was basically a head, about the size of a basketball. It had large, pointed ears, a stubby, spiked tail, a rather large horn, red eyes, and a very large mouth full of teeth. Those teeth seemed to constantly find their way to Seifer's pant leg. On the other hand, Raijin's little monster was very timid and quiet. It was blue and shaped roughly like a clay jar. Instead of legs, it had four stubby knobs. It had a frog-like head with two lengthy antennae and a tiny horn. Its stubby tail kept it from falling over as it scooted along, waving the tiny flaps of skin that were its arms around. It was blue with green eyes and constantly croaked the sound that inspired its name, "Jubjub". Irvine had the most impressive monster. Standing next to everybody's favorite cowboy was what appeared to be a metal chocobo. It was about 3 feet tall and a metallic silver. It even moved and felt like it was made of metal. The oddest thing about it was that its beak was shaped like the muzzle of a gun, when it was closed. Irvine had named it Uzzi, after dismissing the suggestion of naming it Exeter. Uzzi stood silently next to Irvine, watching Seifer's frantic attempts to get chomp off his coat or jeans and keep him off.   
"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Seifer shouted when Chomp chompped onto his arm. Irvine just laughed and gave Uzzi a pat. Raijin tried to help, but got chompped also. After a few minutes, Raijin gave up and walked out toward the cafe, Irvine following shortly after. Seifer just frowned, got a firm grip on chomp, and ran after them.  
  
Just outside the cafeteria, the two groups met up. "Hi Irvy!" Selphie shrieked. Irvine just sighed and kept his distance. The guys and girls took their turns introducing their baby monsters, with several bouts of laughter as Chomp got a firm grip on Seifer time and time again. They were suddenly interrupted by Cid and Edea who brought their newly hatched monsters over as well. Cid's looked like a baby bird with four stubs for legs and no feathers, with a beak the size of its head. Edea had a cat-like monster at her heels. It was very thin and sort of stringy. Each of its feet had two toes, and its creamy fur was laced with vine-like patterns. Its ears were huge and perked forward in interest at the other monster babies. "Isn't it adorable?" Edea said softly, petting the strange cat, "Her name is Chiow. I thought it was such a neat idea to name a little monster after the sound it makes. She's simply precious."  
"Yeah, that's what we did, too," Quistis said.  
"Mine may not be the prettiest, but you can't say it isn't cute," Cid said, patting the featherless bird monster, "I named the cute little thing Qirk. Looks like you guys have some adorable monsters, too. Raise 'em well!" With that, the couple was off again. Throughout the entire conversation, Chomp was firmly attached to Seifer's right arm.  
"Hey! What's up guys? Anyone seen Squall?" Zell shouted as he ran down the walkway toward his friends. "Whoa! Aww, neat! Look at all your monsters! They're awesome! Seifer, why is yours biting your arm?"  
"Because Chomp like chomping!" Selphie answered for him, giggling.  
"Very funny, red-head..." Seifer pulled the orange, basketball-sized monster from his arm and held its mouth closed. "We haven't seen Squall all day," he replied once Chomp was under control.  
"Darn. I've been trying to find him to see how he was doing with that egg..."  
"Hey, if you're looking for Squall, I think I saw him go into the training center a little while ago," said a passing student.  
"Hey, thanks!" Zell yelled, then took off for the training center, followed by the rest of the gang, one of which was struggling with a particularly troublesome Chomp.  
Inside the training Center, Zell and Co. found Squall sitting by the pond near the back of the enclosure. Everyone ran up to him and started showing off their monsters. Squall couldn't help but smile, until Rinoa asked, "Where's yours, Squall?" Squall sighed and pointed to the pond behind him. Swimming around in the water was what appeared to be a pony. Then, after closer inspection, they found it wasn't a pony. Its head and upper body were like a horse, but its forelimbs were flippers, and the rest of its body was like a dolphin. It had a blue, crystal-like horn in its forehead, and hazel eyes. Its mane was chestnut, its fur white, and its tail fin blue. Seifer started laughing.  
"What's so funny, Seifer?" Squall asked, exasperated.  
"You got a friggin' unicorn!" Seifer leaned against a tree laughing, temporarily ignoring Chomp who was chewing on his pant leg.  
"Ignore him, Squall. It's adorable! Just as cute as Kichi here!" Selphie said, trying to be reassuring. Squall sighed and glanced at the 3-foot-long definition of cute puttering around in the pond. "All right," he sighed, "Nanu! C'mere, Nanu..." Seifer burst out laughing again upon hearing the critter's name.   
"Nanu?! What kind of name is Nanu?" Seifer croaked between laughs. Squall sighed as the pony-dolphin returned to him. It whinnied softly and squeaked, "Nanu! Nanu!" up at Squall's friends.   
"Any of you guys up for a trip to the beach?" Squall suggested.  
"Sure, we could all use some fresh air. Doesn't that sound good, Neeb?" Zell replied, petting the adorable green mass on his head.  
"Neeb!" Neeb said.  
"All right then," Squall said with a sigh. The group of friends left for the beach, closely followed by their monsters. It was just too cute to be believable.  
  
* * * * * *  
  
At the beach, Selphie and Rinoa decided to build sandcastles, and busied themselves with handfulls of sand. Selphie had a camera set up and was filming all the cute critters as they saw sand and grass and trees for the first time. Chomp bopped along cutely at Seifer's ankles, while Nanu and Neeb played in the surf. Quill rolled into a ball and allowed herself to be rolled and bounced by playful Kichi and Garp. Fuj remained affectionately attached to Fujin's shoulder, and Uzzi loyally followed Irvine's every step. Raijin had joined Selphie and Rinoa, with Jubjub, in building a sand castle, which Garp knocked over. It was a vision of cuteness. The very definition of cute, even.  
Suddenly, a group of not as cute Fastoticalons appeared from beneath the sands. Startled baby monsters scattered in all directions. Neeb clung to Zell's head, Quill was wrapped around Quistis's ankle, Chomp had chompped onto Seifer's leg, and Nanu tried unsuccessfully to hide behind Squall's leg. Seifer and Squall readied their gunblades, while Irvine loaded his rifle and Fujin twirled her shuriken into position. The others had forgotten their weapons, so took refuge a safe distance away. "First I'm stalked by T-Rexaurs, now this!" Zell cried in frustration.  
"Fastoticalons usually aren't any challenge," Irvine said calmly, "But big groups like this can be dangerous."  
"Maybe we should just leave?" Selphie asked from behind a rock.  
"No way!" Seifer yelled, temporarily ignoring Chomp.  
"Here we go!" Irvine cheered as the pack of Fastoticalons advanced on them. Just as he was about to jog up to greet them with his Exeter, he suddenly noticed his little monster wasn't anywhere near him. He spied Uzzi on a fallen log behind the line of territorial sand-sharks. Damn, he thought, what if the little guy gets hurt? The lead Fastoticalon shrieked and lunged forward at the group. Time for some unscheduled training...  
  
  
A/N: Okay, so it wasn't all that exciting. But, trust me, it'll get better! I swear! Next chapter: The young monsters' mysterious abilities surface, and a newborn Uzzi becomes a powerful and intimidating foe for the ravenous sand-sharks! And strange occurances lead our heroes to find their precious monsters aren't their little secret anymore! What will happen next? Find out in Chapter Four! 


End file.
